November 2025

We are already at the end of November and diving straight into the festive season. We have had a few good showers of rain, including a hailstorm! I think we’re off to a good start to the rainy season. Our Sunrise is currently at 5:16  and sunset at 18:48. The average temperatures for November are about the same as October, but with the humidity picking up, making it feel a little warmer. Our highs averaging at 32’C (89’F) and lows of 18’C ( 64’F). The rainfall for November was a solid 108.5mm, a little bit more than what we had last year November.

With the rain we have had so far, the bush is so alive, everywhere you look is green and a few splashes of random colour here and there with all the wildflowers bursting through. Its not just the flowers adding colour, but the birds too. The migratory birds have arrived and are painting the skies all sorts of beautiful colours, the bee-eaters especially. Madikwe really is a paradise for birds this time of the year. You will witness the weavers, hard at work as they delicately weave their nests above the swimming pool in front of the suite. Or the Iridescent Starlings swoop down for a drink of water. The African Paradise Flycatchers zipping through the lodge as it looks for materials to fill its nest. And the Cuckoos! So many Cuckoos, different species, around at the moment, you will most likely hear them before you see them, but their sounds just as catching as their looks!

In terms of Game drives and sightings, November had some very rare and bizarre things in store for us! On one evening, after having a great afternoon with the Hippos along the river, we headed back for dinner and a glimpse of the reflecting eyes catches our attention. We see and Aardwolf! Such an incredibly rare animal to see, but then 3 more smaller versions of the first one pop up and play around mom. To see the Aardwolf AND her 3 young was definitely a highlight for the Year! Aardwolf are extremely elusive creatures and are mostly nocturnal. Emerging at night to forage for Termites, their main food source.

On another evening trip, also heading back for dinner, we spotted an African Wildcat. Now to some it may look like just another tabby cat that is living in the bush, but for us out here, we know that it is not a common find. They are also nocturnal, moving around in the evenings to hunt for small mammals and birds.

It was definitely a good month to see the nocturnal animals, even during the day. We headed out one gloomy morning, after a few fairly quiet drives our hopes were slowly fading. It seems as though the weather definitely affects the wildlife movements in the same way it does us. But we went out anyways, we could hear a lion calling in the distance and so decided to head in that direction to listen out for more calls. We stopped by the one rocky hill and scanned the rocks as we waited to hear the lion’s call. No more calls were heard, but we did see a pair of Honey Badgers wandering along the base of the hill, looking as though they were up to no good. We watched them make their way up the hill, through the bushes, around the rocks and then they disappeared. No sign of the Honey Badgers, but we knew where they were because a family of very angry looking porcupines emerged from a little cave in the rocks. The porcupines were definitely unimpressed by the disturbance, but that didn’t phase they honey badgers one bit. They lingered near the porcupines and then wandered off to the next residence where there were a curious and cautious Spotted Genet and her two kittens. They did not stick around long enough for an encounter with the Honey Badgers. The whole scene that played out in front of us that morning was both bizarre and brilliant.

In terms of predators, the lions in the east have been a little trickier to find, with the encroaching male coalition. Hopefully the Addo and Matata Males spend more time in their own territory next month. The wild dogs have started wandering more east, meaning that we have had more opportunity to see them. They have been hiding out on one of the hills and only coming down to hunt, so when we did see them, it was glimpses of them crossing the road and into the dense bush and muddy soils. There have also been a few good leopard sightings this month.

All in all, looking back at what November brought us, it was actually a very good month for time in the bush!

Until Next Time!

The Mateya Team